The Perennial Scapegoat

by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach zt'l

When earthquakes recently struck Iran, it came as a surprise that no one in the Moslem world blamed Israel.

Jews, after all, have been the perennial scapegoat for everything. Once it was the accusation that Jews poisoned the wells and caused the plague of the Black Death in medieval Europe. In later times the economic problems of nations were purported to be the result of "Jews having all the money."

In most recent times there were Arab spokesmen who blamed Israel for the terrorist murder of 16 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.

Now it is Israel's turn to be the scapegoat for the destruction of Iran's nuclear development. But this time there may be an ironic twist to the scapegoat role. It may well be that as a last resort Israel will attack the nuclear plants that threaten its security and that of the entire world. Even though Israel may thus do what almost all civilized nations want done, it will probably end up being blamed for doing the world's dirty work.

In the face of all that Jews are blamed for, we can take comfort in the knowledge that Heaven knows the truth, and we pray that Heaven will guide Israel's leaders in making the right decision that will secure Israel forever.

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